2020 Kawasaki Z H2 Preview

Kawasaki leads the world in supercharged motorcycle engines, and for 2020 Team Green adds another boosted model, the "hypernaked" Z H2, to leverage its supercharger development. Supercharging an engine compresses intake air to make it more dense, thereby allowing a greater amount of fuel to enter the combustion chambers and essentially make a bigger bang for more power.

Kawasaki unleashed the reborn H2 in 2015, featuring a 998cc inline four-cylinder engine in a trellis-framed sportbike chassis and a host of premium equipment for a premium price ($25,000). A more powerful version, the H2R, was also released as a non-street-legal super-duper bike with wings, outrageously priced at $64K.

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In 2018, Kawasaki introduced a thoroughly revised H2 in a sport-touring iteration, the H2 SX, providing supercharging technology to a different market. It was offered in a base version for $19,000 and a higher-end SE model for $22,000.

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Now along comes the least-expensive H2 to top Kawasaki’s Z line of naked motorcycles as the Z H2. Its MSRP is a relatively inexpensive $17,000, and the Z line’s flagship continues the formula of a supercharged 998cc four-cylinder engine, trellis steel frame, premium components, and a host of electronic rider aids.

An IMU (inertial measurement unit) feeds info to a plethora of electronics, including traction control, cornering ABS braking, launch control, rides modes, a quickshifter, and even electronic cruise control. Comprehensive color TFT instrumentation provide scads of info and can be linked to your smartphone via Rideology The App.

The Z H2 makes a visual statement with Kawasaki’s “Sugomi” styling that looks aggressive and futuristic. As a “hypernaked,” bodywork is necessarily minimal. The nose section is particularly arresting and flows nicely rearward. The green trellis frame visually pops among the blacked-out engine, swingarm, and bodywork.

The 2020 Kawasaki Z H2 will be available in Metallic Spark Black/Metallic Graphite Gray/Mirror Coated Spark Black at a date yet to be determined. Kawasaki will be releasing further details in the near future, so stay tuned for more info. It will make its US debut at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California, November 22–24, 2019.